Heat Pumps
Although the theory underpinning the heat pump dates back to 1824 the first practical heat pump was built by Peter von Rittinger in 1856.
In 1945, John Sumner, City Electrical Engineer for Norwich, installed an experimental water-source heat pump fed central heating system, using a neighbouring river to heat new council administrative buildings. Then in 1951 along came the first large-scale installation in the UK at The Royal Festival Hall in London. This featured a town’s gas-powered reversible watersource heat pump, utilising the River Thames, for both winter heating and summer cooling needs
